20.1. Devising the Workshop

We developed a tool, which we call Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement, to help leaders develop a personal network that informs and supports the implementation of a change initiative. One example was with a group of leaders responsible for change efforts at MedImmune, the biotechnology arm of AstraZeneca.

MedImmune launched its first significant revenue-generating product in 1998. In those days, the company was still small enough that when decisions needed to be made or changes implemented, the key players simply huddled together and emerged with clear directives. All stakeholders affected by any change in direction participated directly in it. Differences of opinion were worked out in real time. As the company grew—at the time of this writing it employs more than 3,000 people worldwide—it tried to maintain its nimbleness while adding the structure and discipline a larger business needs. This required changes in process, systems, and leadership behavior.

The Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement workshop we designed and facilitated at MedImmune was intended to give rising leaders a common approach and language to navigate the organization as their responsibilities increased. It gave participants a process for identifying and engaging stakeholders early in the life of a change initiative, keeping communication open during its implementation and responding to different stakeholders' needs.

This workshop was part of the company's Leadership Development Program. The goal of the workshop was to help participants, in their role as change leaders, apply the lessons of network and stakeholder management to their business challenges. Many of the participants were overseeing the changes in process, structure, and systems required to operate an increasingly complex, global organization. Because the organization valued rapid decision making and execution, change leaders could easily neglect the need to manage stakeholders more deliberately. As a result, they could put their efforts at risk.